Isaiah

Isaiah Institute Translation

Jehovah’s descent phase as a sacrificial lamb (before his ascent as King of Zion) atones for transgressors.

1 Who has believed our revelation?On whose account has the arm of Jehovahbeen revealed?

2 Like a sapling he grew up in his presence,a stalk out of arid ground.He had no distinguished appearance,that we should notice him;he had no pleasing aspect,that we should find him attractive.3 He was despised and disdained by men,a man of grief, accustomed to suffering.As one from whom men hide their faceshe was shunned, deemed by us of no merit.

4 Yet he bore our sufferings, endured our griefs,though we thought him stricken,smitten of God, and humbled.5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,crushed because of our iniquities;the price of our peace he incurred,and with his wounds we are healed.6 We all like sheep had gone astray,each of us headed his own way;Jehovah brought together upon him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was harassed, yet submissive,and opened not his mouth—like a lamb led to slaughter,like a sheep, dumb before its shearers,he opened not his mouth.8 By arrest and trial he was taken away.Who can apprise his generationthat he was cut off from the land of the livingfor the crime of my people,to whom the blow was due?

9 He was appointed among the wicked in death,aamong the rich was his burial;byet he had done no violence,and deceit was not in his mouth.10 But Jehovah willed to crush him,causing him suffering,that, if hec made his life an offering for guilt,he might see his offspring and prolong his days,and that the purposes of Jehovahmight prosper in his hand.

11 He shall see the toil of his soul and be satisfied;because of his knowledge,and by bearing their iniquities,shall my servant, the righteous one, vindicate many.12 I will assign him an inheritance among the great,and he shall divide the spoil with the mighty,because he poured out his soul unto death,and was numbered with criminals—he bore the sins of many,and made intercession for the transgressors.

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who heralds Jehovah's imminent coming to reign on the earth and who testifies of Jehovah's atoning sacrifice for his people's transgressions.

blue

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a sapling or stalk growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a stalk or sapling growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who resembles a sacrificial lamb during his earthly ministry, who acts as his people's proxy savior, offering his life to atone for their transgressions.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, his hand of deliverance, whom Jehovah empowers to restore his people and to prepare the way for his coming to reign on the earth.

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1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12

a9 Terms reversed in the text. Compare the parallel verse in the Servant–Tyrant Parallelism, 14:20, and the lack of a burial for the wicked and violent Tyrant.

b9 Terms reversed in the text. Compare the parallel verse in the Servant–Tyrant Parallelism, 14:20, and the lack of a burial for the wicked and violent Tyrant.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

10

But Jehovah willed to crush him,causing him suffering,that, if hec made his life an offering for guilt,he might see his offspring and prolong his days,and that the purposes of Jehovahmight prosper in his hand.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

12

I will assign him an inheritance among the great,and he shall divide the spoil with the mighty,because he poured out his soul unto death,and was numbered with criminals—he bore the sins of many,and made intercession for the transgressors.

Apocalyptic Commentary

Jehovah’s descent phase as a sacrificial lamb (before his ascent as King of Zion) atones for transgressors.

1 Who has believed our revelation?On whose account has the arm of Jehovahbeen revealed?

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who heralds Jehovah's imminent coming to reign on the earth and who testifies of Jehovah's atoning sacrifice for his people's transgressions.

blue

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a sapling or stalk growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a stalk or sapling growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who resembles a sacrificial lamb during his earthly ministry, who acts as his people's proxy savior, offering his life to atone for their transgressions.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, his hand of deliverance, whom Jehovah empowers to restore his people and to prepare the way for his coming to reign on the earth.

blue

(53:1)

Parallel statements infer that Jehovah’s arm (Isaiah 51:9; 52:10)—his end-time servant—is “revealed” for the sake of those who “believe” the revelation concerning the person who is the subject of verses 1-10. Believing in Jehovah’s revelation as his servant reveals it (Isaiah 21:10; 50:10; 52:15) thus constitutes a test of one’s faith in the God of Israel. Use of the possessive “our revelation” suggests that alternative versions exist that aren’t grounded in the truth. It also implies that a division occurs between those of Jehovah’s people who believe the revelation and those who don’t (Isaiah 28:16; 43:10).

While scholars lump Isaiah 52:13-53:12 together as a single messianic prophecy, a distinction exists between those verses in which Jehovah speaks of his servant (Isaiah 52:13-15; 53:11-12) and those in which a spokesman for Jehovah’s people, tenably the servant, speaks of the subject of Isaiah 53:1-10. Isaiah’s Servant-Tyrant Parallelism—a structure of twenty-one antithetical verses that contrast the king of Babylon in chapter 14 with the King of Zion in chapters 52-53—shows that the subject of Isaiah 53:1-10 is none other than Jehovah, the King of Zion, and that his servant resembles him.

As we have seen, a close affinity exists between Jehovah and his servant. They appear as two arms of God—righteousness and salvation—that intervene among humanity to restore and deliver Jehovah’s people (Isaiah 33:2; 40:10-11; 48:14-16; 51:5, 9-11; 52:10; 59:16). Jehovah’s empowering his arm (Isaiah 51:9) thus means that with the coming of the servant events take a new turn. Word links show that divine revelation comes forth that only those weaned from milk can digest, while those who are content with a lesser portion of Jehovah’s word are ensnared and taken captive (Isaiah 28:9-16).

2 Like a sapling he grew up in his presence,a stalk out of arid ground.He had no distinguished appearance,that we should notice him;he had no pleasing aspect,that we should find him attractive.

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who heralds Jehovah's imminent coming to reign on the earth and who testifies of Jehovah's atoning sacrifice for his people's transgressions.

blue

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a sapling or stalk growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a stalk or sapling growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who resembles a sacrificial lamb during his earthly ministry, who acts as his people's proxy savior, offering his life to atone for their transgressions.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, his hand of deliverance, whom Jehovah empowers to restore his people and to prepare the way for his coming to reign on the earth.

blue

(53:2)

The terms sapling and stalk designate a messianic person and in that respect resemble the similar terms shoot, stock, and branch (Isaiah 11:1; cf. Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15; Zechariah 3:8). The paralleled antithetical ideas of his growing up “in his presence” and “out of arid ground” denote that although he “grows up” or “ascends” (ya‘al) spiritually in a time of his people’s apostasy and covenant curse, he himself enjoys direct access to his God. And yet, in spite of his being so highly favored, one wouldn’t conclude such a divine privilege from the common outward appearance that defines his humanity.

3 He was despised and disdained by men,a man of grief, accustomed to suffering.As one from whom men hide their faceshe was shunned, deemed by us of no merit.

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who heralds Jehovah's imminent coming to reign on the earth and who testifies of Jehovah's atoning sacrifice for his people's transgressions.

blue

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a sapling or stalk growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a stalk or sapling growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who resembles a sacrificial lamb during his earthly ministry, who acts as his people's proxy savior, offering his life to atone for their transgressions.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, his hand of deliverance, whom Jehovah empowers to restore his people and to prepare the way for his coming to reign on the earth.

blue

(53:3–4)

Two kinds of perception are evident toward the messianic person in question: (1) from a people astray or who believe their own version of God’s revelation and who thus feel threatened by one who embodies the truth; and (2) from righteous individuals who aren’t offended by God’s revelation (v 1) because they themselves live the truth as best they know how. The pronouns “us,” “our,” and “we”—used by a spokesman for Jehovah’s people such as his servant—show that those in the alienated category may in the end realize the true nature of the person they have erstwhile “despised” and “disdained.”

Although the subject of verses 1-10 is Israel’s God Jehovah, the King of Zion (Isaiah 52:7), he appears to his people as “a man” (cf. Genesis 18:1-16). In the pattern of descent before ascent that every proxy savior experiences under the terms of the Davidic Covenant (Isaiah 37:20, 33-35; 38:1-6), Jehovah too suffers as a man in the course of redeeming his people before he comes to reign on the earth as King of Zion (Isaiah 43:24-25; 44:22; 59:19-20; 62:11; 63:8-9). Considered a reprobate and under a curse, he bears the iniquities of reprobates by taking their curses on himself in order to reverse them.

The seven pairs of antithetical themes of Isaiah’s Seven-Part Structure—Ruin & Rebirth, Rebellion & Compliance, Punishment & Deliverance, Humiliation & Exaltation, Suffering & Salvation, Disloyalty & Loyalty, Disinheritance & Inheritance—are evident in Jehovah more than in any person. While he undergoes ruin, punishment, humiliation, suffering, and disinheritance, he does so on behalf of those who are rebellious and disloyal. But because he is compliant and loyal, he experiences rebirth, deliverance, exaltation, salvation, and inheritance in the end as an example to all who emulate him.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,crushed because of our iniquities;the price of our peace he incurred,and with his wounds we are healed.

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who heralds Jehovah's imminent coming to reign on the earth and who testifies of Jehovah's atoning sacrifice for his people's transgressions.

blue

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a sapling or stalk growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a stalk or sapling growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who resembles a sacrificial lamb during his earthly ministry, who acts as his people's proxy savior, offering his life to atone for their transgressions.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, his hand of deliverance, whom Jehovah empowers to restore his people and to prepare the way for his coming to reign on the earth.

blue

(53:5)

As a proxy savior, Jehovah is “pierced” and “crushed” in the course of paying the price of his people’s peace. They are healed of covenant curses because of his “wounds,” fulfilling David’s and Zechariah’s prophecies: “They pierce my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They look at me and stare. They part my garments between them and cast lots for my vesture” (Psalm 22:16-18); “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son, and be in bitterness for him as one who is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10).

The terms “peace” and “healing” form word links to covenant curse reversals Jehovah performs upon the debt of his people’s transgressions being paid: “O Jehovah, you bring about our peace” (Isaiah 26:12); “I occasion peace and cause calamity” (Isaiah 45:7); “I have seen his conduct and I will heal him; I will guide him and amply console him and those who mourn for him, who partake of the fruit of the lips: ‘Peace, wellbeing, to those far off and to those who are near,’ says Jehovah who heals him” (Isaiah 57:18-19); “Jehovah binds up the fracture of his people and heals their open wound” (Isaiah 30:26).

To satisfy the requirements of justice—so that his people might be recipients of his mercy—Jehovah answers for their disloyalties as a vassal to an emperor by taking upon himself their transgressions. Because “Jehovah is a God of justice” (Isaiah 30:18), only on the basis of justice being served can mercy operate or Jehovah could not be a just God. Rather, his saving his people by bearing their infirmities—“taking upon himself the form of a servant” or vassal (Philippians 2:7)—betrays an extraordinary act of love: “Truly you are a God who dissembles himself, O Savior, God of Israel” (Isaiah 45:15).

The Hebrew term “peace” (salom)—a synonym of “salvation” and “good” (Isaiah 52:7)—additionally possesses the connotation of “wholeness” or “completeness” that characterizes a person’s attaining the full stature of man or woman spiritually and physically. The “peace” for which Jehovah pays the price when serving as his people’s proxy savior, and the “healing” he generates on their behalf, therefore, lay the foundation upon which all salvation and covenant blessings rest, preparing the way for God to fulfill his divine purpose of exalting his children that underlies all his dealings with them.

6 We all like sheep had gone astray,each of us headed his own way;Jehovah brought together upon him the iniquity of us all.

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who heralds Jehovah's imminent coming to reign on the earth and who testifies of Jehovah's atoning sacrifice for his people's transgressions.

blue

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a sapling or stalk growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a stalk or sapling growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who resembles a sacrificial lamb during his earthly ministry, who acts as his people's proxy savior, offering his life to atone for their transgressions.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, his hand of deliverance, whom Jehovah empowers to restore his people and to prepare the way for his coming to reign on the earth.

blue

(53:6)

The imagery of sheep wandering in all directions and Jehovah’s bringing together on him (or himself) everyone’s iniquities contrasts the character traits of Jehovah and his people. Word links identify the term “astray” or “erring” (ta‘inu) with Jehovah’s prophets, priests, and people (Isaiah 28:7; 29:24) and the term “sheep” or “flock” (s’on) as Jehovah’s people and the nations (Isaiah 13:14; 63:11). Consistent with the Servant-Tyrant Parallelism’s use of the name Jehovah to denote a divine office, its use in the present instance (vv 6, 10) may additionally refer to the Most High God (cf. Isaiah 14:14).

7 He was harassed, yet submissive,and opened not his mouth—like a lamb led to slaughter,like a sheep, dumb before its shearers,he opened not his mouth.

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who heralds Jehovah's imminent coming to reign on the earth and who testifies of Jehovah's atoning sacrifice for his people's transgressions.

blue

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a sapling or stalk growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a stalk or sapling growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who resembles a sacrificial lamb during his earthly ministry, who acts as his people's proxy savior, offering his life to atone for their transgressions.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, his hand of deliverance, whom Jehovah empowers to restore his people and to prepare the way for his coming to reign on the earth.

blue

(53:7)

As animals are often mistreated, so is Jehovah during his earthly ministry. Though he is “harassed” or “oppressed” (niggas), he is “submissive” or “afflicted” (na‘aneh) and doesn’t resist evil. The imagery of a lamb led to slaughter alludes to the sacrifice of his life as “an offering for guilt” under the Law of Moses (v 10), in which a sacrificial animal substitutes for a person who has transgressed. Isaiah thus combines the role of a proxy savior under the terms of the Davidic Covenant with the proxy role of a sacrificial lamb under the Mosaic Code to show the composite nature of Jehovah’s saving roles.

8 By arrest and trial he was taken away.Who can apprise his generationthat he was cut off from the land of the livingfor the crime of my people,to whom the blow was due?

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who heralds Jehovah's imminent coming to reign on the earth and who testifies of Jehovah's atoning sacrifice for his people's transgressions.

blue

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a sapling or stalk growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a stalk or sapling growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who resembles a sacrificial lamb during his earthly ministry, who acts as his people's proxy savior, offering his life to atone for their transgressions.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, his hand of deliverance, whom Jehovah empowers to restore his people and to prepare the way for his coming to reign on the earth.

blue

(53:8)

The terms “arrest” and “trial” signify official prosecution at the hands of civil and/or ecclesiastical authorities. These terms additionally accord with the pattern of a vassal king’s prosecution by an emperor for his or his people’s disloyalties to the emperor. In Jehovah’s case, however, the disloyalties are not his own but those of his people for whom he is answerable to the emperor. His being “cut off” from the land of the living means that he is condemned to death, paradoxically by those for whose crimes and transgressions he fulfills the requirements of justice (Isaiah 43:24-25; 44:22; 63:7-10).

As only Israel’s God—not a man and not an animal—qualifies as an unblemished sacrifice for sin (cf. Exodus 12:5; Leviticus 1:3; 4:3), and as only he can answer to all eternity as a vassal to an emperor under the terms of the Davidic Covenant (cf. Isaiah 37:35; 55:5), the requirements of justice Jehovah discharges on behalf of his people are all-encompassing and infinite for those whom he saves (Isaiah 43:12; 45:17; 51:6, 8). But to apprise his generation—those whom he saves—of this demonstration of divine goodness is another matter, as few in this world comprehend or perceive its profound reality (v 1).

9 He was appointed among the wicked in death,aamong the rich was his burial;byet he had done no violence,and deceit was not in his mouth.

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who heralds Jehovah's imminent coming to reign on the earth and who testifies of Jehovah's atoning sacrifice for his people's transgressions.

blue

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a sapling or stalk growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a stalk or sapling growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who resembles a sacrificial lamb during his earthly ministry, who acts as his people's proxy savior, offering his life to atone for their transgressions.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, his hand of deliverance, whom Jehovah empowers to restore his people and to prepare the way for his coming to reign on the earth.

blue

(53:9)

While the Masoretic Text says, “Among the wicked was his burial, and among the rich his death,” verse 9’s parallel features suggest the opposite. Because violence is typical of the wicked and deceit of the rich, not vice versa, and because a person dies before he is buried, not vice versa, the MT version appears corrupt. That the person is innocent, moreover, reaffirms that he dies on account of others’ guilt, not his own. And as ascent follows descent, Jehovah’s elect’s rising from the dust in Isaiah’s Servant-Tyrant Parallelism (Isaiah 52:1-2) establishes the pattern for Jehovah’s rising from the dust.

10 But Jehovah willed to crush him,causing him suffering,that, if hec made his life an offering for guilt,he might see his offspring and prolong his days,and that the purposes of Jehovahmight prosper in his hand.

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who heralds Jehovah's imminent coming to reign on the earth and who testifies of Jehovah's atoning sacrifice for his people's transgressions.

blue

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a sapling or stalk growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a stalk or sapling growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who resembles a sacrificial lamb during his earthly ministry, who acts as his people's proxy savior, offering his life to atone for their transgressions.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, his hand of deliverance, whom Jehovah empowers to restore his people and to prepare the way for his coming to reign on the earth.

blue

(53:10)

Both the deliverance King Hezekiah obtains on a local level (Isaiah 37:35; 38:4-6) and the salvation the King of Zion obtains on a universal level follow the same pattern under the terms of the Davidic Covenant. As noted, under its terms a vassal king performs the spiritual function of a proxy savior on the model of ancient Near Eastern emperor-vassal covenants in which the emperor binds himself to deliver a vassal and his people from a mortal threat when the vassal keeps the law of the emperor and the people keep the law of the vassal. Where that formula breaks down, the emperor has no obligation.

While Hezekiah has such an emperor-vassal relationship with Jehovah, Jehovah has a parallel relationship with the Most High God. Under the terms of such a covenant, the vassal is answerable to the emperor for the disloyalties of his people. But because the emperor-vassal model only partially covers this scenario, Isaiah combines it with that of animal sacrifice. By making his life “an offering for guilt” (’asam)—that is, by suffering his people’s punishments not just on behalf of their temporal salvation but also their spiritual or eternal salvation—Jehovah personifies all salvation (Isaiah 33:2; 62:11).

Once justice is served, the emperor is under obligation to deliver the vassal king and his people from a mortal threat. However, if the vassal willingly goes to his death in order to serve justice, then the only way the emperor can deliver him is to raise him from the dead. By the same token, those who give the vassal king their allegiance (Isaiah 45:23), too, qualify for deliverance from death—the ultimate mortal threat—by being resurrected from the dead. Through his sacrifice, Jehovah, the King of Zion, thus accounts for all aspects of his people’s salvation, temporal and spiritual, past, present, and future.

That Jehovah has literal offspring on the earth fulfills a fundamental covenant blessing (Genesis 1:28; 22:17; Deuteronomy 28:4; Psalm 89:4). Together with a proper burial (v 9)—also a covenant blessing—it again attests that is he is innocent of the crimes for which he is put to death. In the antithetical verses of Isaiah’s Servant-Tyrant Parallelism, for example, the king of Babylon receives no burial and ends up with no offspring (Isaiah 14:20-21)—both covenant curses. A person’s days being “prolonged” or “extended” (ya’arik) (Deuteronomy 6:2) in part denotes his having continuing offspring.

That historically the only person whose life and sufferings match all aspects of Isaiah’s prophecy in verses 1-10 is Jesus of Nazareth makes him the only candidate of a “man” (v 3) who is also Jehovah the God of Israel. That agrees with Jehovah’s appearance to Abraham as one of three “men” (Genesis 18:1-33) and with Jacob’s encounter with a “man” who was also Israel’s God (Genesis 32:24-30). Jesus affirmed he was Jehovah when he answered a question by the Pharisees, stating, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58; emphasis added), which verb embodies the name Jehovah (cf. Exodus 3:13-14).

For supposedly blaspheming by claiming he was God or the Son of God, Jesus was put to death (Matthew 26:63-66; John 10:31-38). The fact that Isaiah’s synchronous literary structures transform the Book of Isaiah into an allegory of the end-time nevertheless doesn’t locate the historical context of verses 1-10 in the end-time. Twin servant passages that enclose verses 1-10, however (Isaiah 52:13-15; 53:11-12), relate them to the mission of Jehovah’s servant in the end-time, verse 1’s question being whether Jehovah’s people in that day “believe” the revelation of Jehovah’s earthly life and sufferings.

That the purposes of Jehovah might prosper in his hand. A transitional phrase to verses 11-12, this infers that on the foundation of justice and mercy that Jehovah establishes by fulfilling his proxy roles, his “purposes” or “desires” (hepes) may now “prosper” or “succeed” (yislah). Without his laying that spiritual groundwork, humanity would forever continue incurring covenant curses. For those who covenant with Jehovah, on the other hand, their overcoming covenant curses through the foundation of salvation Jehovah has laid enables them to ascend to higher spiritual levels not otherwise possible.

An exemplary instance of such ascent is Jehovah’s servant—his right hand. He follows closely Jehovah’s pattern of a proxy savior under the terms of the Davidic Covenant by his, too, suffering afflictions through a descent phase (Isaiah 49:7; 50:5-6; 52:14) and subsequently rising to glory in his ascent phase (Isaiah 49:7; 52:13; 55:5). The basis of that reversal from curse to blessing, however—for the servant and for all who emulate him—is Jehovah’s earthly mission as his people’s Savior (Isaiah 43:11-13; 45:21-25; 63:8-9), Jehovah’s ultimate purpose and desire being the exaltation of his people.

11 He shall see the toil of his soul and be satisfied;because of his knowledge,and by bearing their iniquities,shall my servant, the righteous one, vindicate many.

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who heralds Jehovah's imminent coming to reign on the earth and who testifies of Jehovah's atoning sacrifice for his people's transgressions.

blue

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a sapling or stalk growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a stalk or sapling growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who resembles a sacrificial lamb during his earthly ministry, who acts as his people's proxy savior, offering his life to atone for their transgressions.

green

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, his hand of deliverance, whom Jehovah empowers to restore his people and to prepare the way for his coming to reign on the earth.

blue

(53:11)

The positioning of verses 1-10 between the two servant passages (Isaiah 52:13-15; 53:11-12) suggests a close affinity between their subjects. Jehovah and his servant—both of whom serve as proxy saviors but on different spiritual levels—resemble one another in many aspects of their descent and ascent phases. What is said of one is thus typical also of the other. The spiritual salvation Jehovah obtains by paying the price of his people’s transgressions under God’s law of justice, however, is unique to him, whereas the temporal salvation the servant obtains is obtained by others of Jehovah’s servants as well.

King Hezekiah’s role as a proxy savior in obtaining his people’s temporal salvation under the terms of the Davidic Covenant (Isaiah 37:35-36; 38:4-6) nevertheless serves as a type of both Jehovah and his servant. Although verse 11—in which Jehovah speaks of his “servant” or vassal—specifically addresses the servant’s role of proxy savior, all three—Jehovah, his servant, and Hezekiah, each on his own level—“bear their [people’s] iniquities” when answering for their disloyalties. All three proxy saviors, in other words, take their peoples’ covenant curses upon themselves and suffer on their account.

The “toil of his soul” that characterizes a proxy savior’s descent phase as he bears his people’s iniquities is demonstrated in Hezekiah’s deathly agony at the time Assyria threatens Jerusalem: “My life is cut off like woven fabric; he is severing me from the loom. Can I contain myself until morning, while like a lion he racks my whole frame? [Surely,] as night has followed day, you are bringing on my end! Like a mounting lark I twitter, like a dove I murmur. My eyes are drawn looking heavenward; I am utterly sleepless from bitterness of soul. O Jehovah, I am in straits; be my surety!” (Isaiah 38:12-14).

The servant’s “knowledge”—which term defines an intact covenant relationship—thus consists of the terms of the Davidic Covenant under which he may “vindicate” or “justify” (yasdiq) Jehovah’s people before their God. As he takes upon himself their covenant curses that are a consequence of their iniquities, he knows he will suffer. But he also knows that by serving as their proxy savior Jehovah will spare his people when the end-time Assyrian power attempts to destroy them. Such unselfish acts define Jehovah’s righteousness, which the servant exemplifies (Isaiah 11:4-5; 32:1; 41:2, 10; 46:11-13).

12 I will assign him an inheritance among the great,and he shall divide the spoil with the mighty,because he poured out his soul unto death,and was numbered with criminals—he bore the sins of many,and made intercession for the transgressors.

A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who heralds Jehovah's imminent coming to reign on the earth and who testifies of Jehovah's atoning sacrifice for his people's transgressions.

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A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a sapling or stalk growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

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A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who typifies a stalk or sapling growing up among his apostate people but who maintains contact with the Most High God during his earthly ministry.

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A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who resembles a sacrificial lamb during his earthly ministry, who acts as his people's proxy savior, offering his life to atone for their transgressions.

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A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, his hand of deliverance, whom Jehovah empowers to restore his people and to prepare the way for his coming to reign on the earth.

Verse 12 reveals other such ancient types: Caleb, who received “an inheritance among the great” for his integrity (Joshua 14:14); David, who “divide[d] the spoil with the mighty” when he vanquished the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30:26); Hezekiah, who “poured out his soul unto death” during his illness (Isaiah 38:1-20); David, who was “numbered with criminals” when Saul outlawed him (1 Samuel 22:1-2); Job, who “[bore] the sins of many” upon the lavish lifestyle of his children (Job 1:5); and Moses, who “made intercession for trans­gressors” when Israel worshiped an idol (Deuteronomy 9:16-29).

A clear distinction thus exists between Jehovah and his servant. While one makes his life “an offering for guilt” and dies like “a lamb” (vv 7-10), the other lives to “divide the spoil” and receive “an inheritance” in the land (v 12). In other words, although one does not experience a reversal of circumstances in his lifetime, the other does when Jehovah heals and empowers him (Isaiah 49:7-8; 51:9; 57:18). As no savior’s descent phase occurs without a corresponding ascent phase, however, Jehovah’s coming in glory to reign as King of Zion constitutes his ascent phase (Isaiah 52:7-8; 59:19-20; 62:11).

a9 Terms reversed in the text. Compare the parallel verse in the Servant–Tyrant Parallelism, 14:20, and the lack of a burial for the wicked and violent Tyrant.

b9 Terms reversed in the text. Compare the parallel verse in the Servant–Tyrant Parallelism, 14:20, and the lack of a burial for the wicked and violent Tyrant.